Vacuum-cleaner.



Witnesses J. VOGELZANGS & F "B. MORGAN.

VACUUM CLEANER. APPLIOATIOII Hum rnn.z, 1e1z.

"1,948,009, Patented D8Q.24, 1 912. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor s Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT orFIoE."

JOHN VOGELZANGS AND FRANK E. MORGAN, or GREEN BAY, wrsooNsm.

VACUUM-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 2, 1912. Serial No. 674,939.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

To all whom itmay convent:

Be it known that we, JOHN VOGELZANGS I and FRANK E. MORGAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Green Bay, in the county ofBrown, State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Vacuum-Cleaner,

' of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to vacuum cleaners for use in cleaning-streets and the like, the principal object of the invention beingto improve that class of machines that utilize a practically continuous circulation of air for the purpose of conveying dust and dirt from the surface being cleaned to a receiver wherein the dirt and dust is separated from the current of air and said current permitted' to flow back to a point where it can again proceeds, the invention resides in the com,

bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the. accompanying drawings the preferred form ofthe invention has been shown. I i

In said drawings :Figure 1 is aside elevatlon of a machine having the present improvements combined therewith, portions being broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan' view of the machine, a port-ion of one of the air conducting pipes beingbrokenaway. Fig. 3 1s anenlarged front elevation ofthe suctionghead, a portion of the outer casing being removed. Fig. 4: is a section on line 'A--B Fig. 3 and showing a scraper in ad- "Vance of the suction. head. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section-on line CD Fig. 1. Fig. 6 1s-a perspective view of a portion of the air conveying means.

bod of the vehicle the rear or drive wheels 2 0 which have a sprocket 3 secured to t err Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the main frame or.,

'revoluble axle and which receives motion through a chain 4 from a sprocket 5 secured to a shaft 6. A worm wheel 7 is also secured to the shaft 6 and receives motion, through a worm 8, from a shaft 9 extending rear wardly from the-motor indicated generally at 10. The operation of the driving mechanism can becontrolled by the usual or any. other preferred means and it is not deemed necessary to describe or illustrate the same in the present'case, inasmuch as it constitutes no part of this invention.

A dirt receptacle 11 is removably mounted on therear portion ofthe body 1 and is preferably cylindrical, said receptacle being open at the top. A cylindrical separator casing 12 is supported in 'any suitable manner above the receptacle 11 and a ring 13 is slidably mounted on the casing and is adapted to be lowered soas to closethe space betwen the casing and receptacle, any suitable means, such as a bead 14, being provided for supporting the ringin its normal position. It will be apparent that by elevating the ring theireceptacle will be released and can be drawn outwardly from under the casing.

A casing 15 is mounted on the body 1 preferably in front of the receptacle 11 and a suction fan, not shown, is designed to rotate within this casing. An outlet pipe or flue l6 extends'from the casing 15 and opens into the top of the receiver 12 and an inverted frusto-conical separator 17 is supported within the casing 12 and surrounds the inlet thereof, which is the outlet of the flue 16. An air pipe or flue 18, extending to' the intake of the casing .15 projects forwardly and thence laterallyunder the body 1 and terminates in a downwardly and for-' wardly inclined tubular arm 19'openin'ginto and supporting a header. 20 having tubular branches 21. Each of these branches is connected, by means of a flexible coupling 22, to a tubularneck 23 projecting upwardly from a suction head24. This head is angular in outline and the front and rear walls thereof converge downwardly and have their .inner edge portions turned inwardly up into the head, as indicated at 25 and 26,,thus. forming aninlet slot 27 therebetween extending throughout the width of the head. 1

These upturned edge portions also permit the suction head to travel over a rough surthereby becoming injured.'

face without becoming. caught thereon and- A desired number of bowed runners 28 is disposed in front of each of the heads 24, the lower ends of these runners being extended under and secured to the inturned portion 25 of the head while the upper ends ends of the runners 28 constitute passages for air as will be hereinafter set forth.

The runners 28 constitute supports for a flexible hood 29made of air tight material such as rubber or the like and an apron 30- extends downwardly from the hood and is integral therewith, this apron serving to contact with the surface being cleaned and thus prevent the escape of air under the apron. Another apron 31 extends downwardly from the rear or lower face of the head and likewise contacts with the surface being cleaned, thereby preventing the admission of air to the interior of the hood. A sin le hood can be extended along a series o two or more suction heads, as illustrated in Fig. 3, said hood forming a continuous conduit extending throughout the width of the path traversed by the heads! Each end of the hood communicates with an air flue 32 which extends upwardly to the side of the casing 12, this flue being designed to receive air from'the receiver after the separator 17 has separated dust and dirt therefrom.

A scraper in the form of a brush 33 is preferably supported in front of the suction heads so as to loosen-the dirt to be removed from the surface being cleaned. This scraper can be of any desired construction and does not constitute any part of the present invention.

The fan contained within the casin 15, and which can be of any preferred orm, has been illustrated generally at 34. The shaft 35 on which the fan is mounted preferably receives motion through a sprocket 36 and a chain 37 from another sprocket 38 secured to a shaft 39. This shaft has a bevel gear 40 thereon meshing with a bevel gear 41 on the shaft 9. Thus it will be seen that when the ears 41 and 40 are in mesh motion will ice transmitted to the shaft 39 from shaft 9 and the chain 37 and sprockets 38 and 36 will drive shaft 35 and the fan. A circulation of air will thus be setup, air being forced through the flue 16 into the top of the casing 12 and thence through the casin 12 and into the flue 32 from which it wil pass into the end of the hood 29. From the hood the air asses between the lower end portions of t e runners 28 and into the openings in the lower ends of the receptacle has -suction'heads. From these openings the air passes upwardly through the heads and into the header 20 from which'it passes, by Way of flue 18, into the fan casing 15. As the air rushes between the runners 28 and between the inturned portion 25 and the surface to be cleaned, any loosened particles ofdirt on said surface will be carried by the air into the slot 27 and thence through the casing 15 and flue16 to the casing 12. The separator 17 will prevent the dirt from flowing with the air to" the flue 22 and, instead, said dirt will gravitate to the receptacle 11. The, air will, as before set forth, return "to the hood 29 and again be used for the pur- 8o pose of conveying loosened dust and dirt to the casing 12. The pressure of air within the hood will be sufficient to hold the apron 30 pressed firmly upon the surface being I cleaned and the suction of air through the hood and into the heads 24 will be sufiicient to cause the rear apron 31 to bear downwardly on said surface. Thus it will be seen that the circulation of air through the apparatus will be continuous and will not be broken by any air entering, in appreciable quantities, at any point along the path of the apron.

. As the heads 24 are connected to the header 20 by flexible joints 22, it will be seen that the said heads can be raised or lowered with relation to the surface being cleaned. This adjustment of the heads can be effected in various ways. In'the drawings a chain 42 has been shown connected to the heads and extended upwardly to a revoluble segment 43 having a lever 44 extending therefrom. By shifting this lever the segment can be rotated so as to pullupwardly on the chain 42 or to lower it as desired, thus causing a corresponding movement of the heads 24.

As hereinbefore pointed out, after the been partly or entirely filled, ring 13 can be raised, thejreceptacle removed 0 and its contents dumped, and said receptacle then replaced. Ring 13 can then be caused to gravitate back to its normal position, thereby sealing the joint between the receptacle and the casing 12.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a series of flexibly supported suction heads, and a flex ble conduit connecting the heads, of a casmg, means for setting up a current of air from the heads and into the casing, means for directing the'air current from the cas ng and into the conduit, and means for directing the air from the conduit into the heads, said current passingbetween' the heads and the surface eing cleaned.

2. A vacuum cleaner including a casing,

a suction head having an inlet opening in the bottom thereof, the walls of the opening being inturned, means extending under and of air from the head to the casing and from v 1,048,069. V a

connected to one of the walls. of the opening In testimony that we claim the foregoing 10 for spacing saidwall from the surface to be as our own, we have hereto afiixed our sigcleaned, a hood earned by sa1d means and natures in the presence of two witnesses.

adapted to slidably engage the surface to be cleaned, means for creating a circulation the casin to the hood, there'bemg an air Witnesses: passage rom the hood and into the head P. T. BENTON,- between the hood supporting means. 7 V FREDA 'SoHBIoKEL. 

